Kyousuke Kousaka
Kyōsuke Kōsaka (高坂 京介, Kōsaka Kyōsuke?) is the main protagonist of Oreimo. He has a distant relationship with his sister Kirino, who always treats her rudely. Feeling that this will never change, he adapts to her attitude by changing how he thinks of his sister, treating her like an acquaintance. Kyousuke's dynamics with his sister suddenly changes when he finds one of her adult games by accident and learns that she is an otaku. Through this, he tries to be a supportive younger brother while realizing he himself knew very little about his sister, such as her being almost flawless at school and working as a model. He is voiced by Yuichi Nakamura. Appearance Kyousuke is a young man with black eyes and black hair with a blue tint. His hair reaches down to his nape and his fringes are swept aside on both sides of his face, with one lock of hair left hanging by the middle of his forehead. His choice of clothes are simple and casual clothing, with shirts and slacks completing his outfit. Personality Normally, he acts very laidback and calm when it comes to almost anything. When he has a problem, he doesn't panic unless it gets bigger and bigger, far too quickly for his preference. He also is very distant towards his fellow students except for Manami, who is his osananajimi (childhood friend). However, there are times when he truly does get angry. When this happens, the laidback and calm person he is usually completely disappears, replaced by a decisive and serious adult. Examples are when Kirino's hobby was exposed to their strict father and when her anime's production was canceled, unless the story of adaption were to be changed, and when Kyousuke visited the rental room in S1 EP11, where he was bombarded with complaints for no reason. He is actually dense when it comes to sensing the emotions of women, much to the said women's irritation. Ayase was one of the victims of this ignorance. When he had started dating Kuroneko and came to Ayase's room at some point, she was mad at him for lying when he said that he would like to marry her, much to his apparent ignorance. He seems to have a fetish for glasses, which Manami and Kirino found out. Much to Kyousuke's chagrin, Manami offered to call him "Onii-chan" after discovering the eroge on the laptop in his room being played. Kyousuke aims to live a normal life, and this mentality affects many aspects of his life, including family, school and personal life. According to him, his grades are average, and his personal life involves the things that a typical teenager of his age would do. However, he admits to hate the single person whom he is insecure with: Kirino, his younger sister. To him, Kirino's success has made him useless in the eyes of his parents, and he sometimes takes joy from seeing his sister's suffering and sometimes hurt seeing her in pain, resulting to him sacrificing himself for his sister. He has been at odds with his sister, and eventually he learned to ignore her presence. Not until the day of the discovery of her hobby, they started to become close as siblings, opposed to seeing each other as strangers. However, it's later revealed that he was a true siscon. He denies this somewhat early on, then fully accepts the term for himself. It may even extend to the point of a fetish itself, as shown when he got flustered over Kuroneko teasing him while referring to him as "Nii-san". During his childhood, he used to be an outgoing, ambitious and stubborn child. He later stopped being so, due to an accident that had happened, resulting in Akimi Sakurai getting hurt. Although after years since the accident, he started regaining his former self when he started helping Kirino with her hobby, resulting in multiple occasions of him sacrificing himself for his older sister. (Explained further in His True Self, Childhood, & Akimi Sakurai's Accident) Plot 'The First Life Consultation Session' Kyousuke stumbles upon a mysterious CD case on the doorstep of the Kousaka Residence by accident. Although he is certain that he never owned a DVD about a magical girl. (in fact, the DVD case actually contains a mature title inside) He keeps the DVD case while he investigates who owns it. Upon his investigation, it turns out that his younger sister Kirino owns the CD, and in the night that followed, Kirino confronts Kyousuke about it, marking the start of the first "life consultation" between the siblings. In the life consultation, Kirino admits that she has an unusual hobby — that she is an avid fan of anime and eroge — and she asks Kyousuke to help her keep it a secret from her parents, especially since their father strongly dislikes otaku. Kyousuke reluctantly agrees to help, unknowingly putting aside his normal lifestyle for his older sister whom he's been distant with for years. 'Entering the World of an Otaku' ] Kyousuke becomes Kirino's closest confidante on the days that follow, and since he has no idea about his sister's hobby, she would recommend some titles from her personal collection for him to play. Kyousuke then suggests to Kirino to find a community of people who share the same interest as her. After some searching and sending a request to join the Otaku Girls Unite!, Kirino is welcomed into the group and is invited to an offline meeting in a cafe in Akihabara. They later arrived in Akihabara to meet the Otaku Girls Unite!, and also being Kyousuke's first time visiting Akihabara. Later, Kyousuke sat on a table near by in where Kirino and the Otaku Girls Unite! were to meet, as a request by Kirino, as a sense of security and comfort while she joins the offline meeting. ] Kirino, in the end of the meeting, wasn't able to make any friends and was comforted by Kyousuke. After what seemed like a failed attempt at making friends, the Kousaka Siblings were later caught up and invited by the moderator of Otaku Girls Unite!, named Saori Bajeena, in an offline meeting's "after party". There, the siblings got to know more about their new friends Saori and her companion, who calls herself "Kuroneko". There, Kirino and Kuroneko argued about their opinions, and they walked around Akihabara, showing off their otaku related interests, bringing along Kyousuke and Saori. There, Kyousuke was able to see a lot of otaku related items, stores, people and the like. Thus, somewhat, being introduced to the otaku world for the first time, seeing and experiencing a little of the otaku world. Kirino and the 2 otaku girls were able to become good friends, despite the arguments that Kirino and Kuroneko had. 'Kyousuke's Sacrifices' Several days after, Kyousuke would find himself in a dilemma he hoped that would not happen: having to choose between keeping Kirino's secret and protecting his own reputation. . (S1 EP3)]] In a sudden accident, the Kousaka siblings' father Daisuke discovers Kirino's CD in the living room and Kirino almost became helpless against the wrath of her otaku-hating father. Kyousuke decides to stand up for Kirino's hobby and convinces his father that he owns the Sister Eroge CD he discovered. At the risk of losing his worth to his father, Kyousuke kept Kirino's hobby and reputation safe. Because of his heroic sacrifice, he catches a glimpse of Kirino's softer side, and Kirino calling him brother for the first time in a long time to thank him for his efforts (He was once called "Aniki" during their childhood)''Stated in the Light Novel Vol. 11 Chapter 1., opposed to being usually called a stranger. Kirino's dedication to her hobby is tested once again when she meets her best friend Ayase Aragaki while she, Kyousuke, Saori and Kuroneko were attending the Summer Comiket. Ayase decided to break her friendship with Kirino, because of Kirino's hobby. So once again, Kyousuke puts himself in harm's way for Ayase to reconsider her opinions towards Kirino and her hobby. He did so by convincing Ayase that not all otaku people are bad and made her think he was some kind of "pervert" and "siscon". Ayase then decided to be friends with Kirino, along with the belief of "protecting" Kirino from his "perverted" and "siscon" brother, as according to plan by Kyousuke. That in the end, again, also damages Ayase's image of Kyousuke in the processes. 'Childhood Friend Moments' In spite of his constant exposure to stressful experiences of care to Kirino and her hobby, Kyousuke always finds time to visit his childhood friend Manami Tamura. Manami always acts as Kyousuke's supporter when he is down, and she always welcomes him at the Tamura Residence, where the Tamura family knows Kyousuke very well since when he and Manami were still young. When Kyousuke could afford it, he would visit Manami's house to stay over. At times, his stay would go through the night, and Kyousuke would endure being teased by Manami's grandparents to be Manami's perfect future partner. Although Manami denies it, she appears to have a crush on Kyousuke, something that he is somewhat aware of, but instead prefers to stay as good friends with her. 'The Start of Kirino's Novelist Career' Kirino and Kuroneko's relationship as complete opposites eventually comes to the point when Kirino wants to imitate Kuroneko and surpass what she can do. The playing field for both of them becomes the novel industry, where Kuroneko has been clearly experienced in. Kyousuke decides to help Kirino out in her plans in making a better novel, and it was eventually published by a famous light novel publishing company. Kirino's novels reached the hearts of many and gained enough publicity for her light novels to be adapted into an anime series. However, even Kyousuke is not able to shield Kirino from the harshness of the world of producing an anime series. In spite of this, Kyousuke did not give up and he negotiated alongside Saori and Kuroneko to the production team of Kirino's first anime series. The gamble paid off in the end, and Kirino's anime series was eventually broadcasted on daytime television. 'His True Self, Childhood, & Akimi Sakurai's Accident' During his childhood in middle school, he used to be an outgoing, ambitious and stubborn person. He was a top track-and-field runner in his school, a class-rep, had good grades, and was somewhat renowned in his school. He loved taking on challenges and at times to intervened with other people's problems, in an attempt to help them. Also, during this time period, the relationship of Kyousuke and Kirino were really close as siblings. Kyousuke would always share his adventures and stories to Kirino, and Kirino would always praise him. Kyousuke's life later took a big turn, due to an accident that happened when he was trying to motivate Akimi Sakurai to go to school. Kyousuke somewhat forced Akimi to come along on a mountain hike field trip, to help change her way of thinking of schools. This later resulting in getting Akimi injured, and having her move away, due to Kyousuke bringing her to a dangerous spot for a good view. He was mentally and emotionally hurt, due to condemnation from his class and the mother of Akimi blamed him for Akimi's injury. His grandmother's death (father's side) added to his grief.. Him being sad and angered of the events that happened, later asked Manami for "life counseling", which Manami helped calm down his anger of regret and advised him to become "normal" like she is, that he was just an "ordinary boy" and that he doesn't need to risk and push himself too far for the sake of others. He took her words to heart, resulting in him becoming the carefree, unambitious and average teenager he is now, to avoid having another regretful accident like with Akimi. 2 yearsIn the Light Novel Vol. 11 Chapter 1, it states that the Kousaka Sibling's "Cold War" started 3 years ago, and that time period of that being mentioned was 1 year of Kyousuke's discovery of Kirino's hobby. after the accident, is when Kyousuke discovered Kirino's hobby. He started to slowly gradually regain his former self, to the extent of him sacrificing his name and reputation for his sister, butting into her affairs in times of need, helping with other peoples problem, and him being able to attain a high grade on his exams (opposed to his usual mediocre grades and carefree attitude). 'Settling Dispute & Reunion With His Past' Many yearsStated in the Light Novel Vol. 11 Chapter 1. later in December from the time of Akimi's accident, Kyousuke & Kirino visited Manami and spent the night, having a friendly conversation and discussion on settling the dispute between the girls, as part of the "truce" between Kirino and Manami that was created when Kyousuke was studying for his mock exam, and this is also where Kyousuke told the story of his past, and the time of the Akimi accident. Kyousuke's past was brought forth to help trace the time and reason of the start of the Kousaka Sibling's relationship and dispute between Kirino and Manami. After Kyousuke finished telling the story of his past, Kirino was able to find Akimi and helped him and Akimi meetup, with help through a game called "Imouto City", which is a game that Akimi has been playing ever since her childhood. Although the dispute between Kirino and Manami wasn't settled there. In a meetup at a Game Center, they both apologized to each other: "Kyousuke getting her injured." "Akimi for letting him endure his guilt and unable to thank him for his efforts of motivating her to go to school" Akimi told Kyousuke that it wasn't her who decided to move away after her accident on the mountain hike field trip, but it was her mother who made the decision and by the time she woke up, she was already moved away. Akimi also told Kyousuke about the words that she was about to spill out during the mountain hike field trip, but was cut out due to her slipping and getting injured. Those words that she was supposed to spill out, was a confession of her feelings for him. After Akimi told him of those supposed said words, Kyousuke rejects her, and gave the same reply as to Ayase, that he was already in love with someone else, who is later revealed to be Kirino. Akimi took his words lightly and then they both later parted. They then later met each other again, but this time along with Kirino, the day after Kyousuke's confession. ' Relationships''' Kyousuke, despite being the most "normal" of the cast, fits in well with others he meets. His outright kindness and protective nature grabbed many hearts, which he is often either oblivious to or disregards. Kirino Kousaka Being the dependable brother that he is, Kyousuke cares deeply for his younger sister. The two are deemed close during their childhood, often depicted together in family photo albums. As they grew up, however, the two seemed to become more distant. The Kousaka family album shows a diminishing number of photos that feature the two together as they grew up, something that Kyousuke is seemingly unaware of. After the discovery of Kirino's otaku personality, the two slowly grow closer to each other again. Many times, Kyousuke would go the extra mile to keep his older sister from trouble, going so far as to sacrifice his own good both in and out of familial boundaries. Kyousuke understands that Kirino is a sweet and caring girl despite her brash tsundere personality towards him, something that he cherishes in her. Despite their constant arguments, the two share the same mindset where "they (Kirino and Kyousuke) can't stand the idea of one another in another person's arms", often sparking an incestuous vibe among others. At first, it is unclear if Kirino really loves him as a man or as a dependable brother, though in many, if not all instances where other girls get close to Kyousuke, she intervenes instantly. Her dependence on him made Kyousuke appreciate their relationship in the sense that he's able to realign their seemingly shattered relationship and accepts his capability as a good brother in his own way. Despite the many girls that constantly confess to him throughout the series; however, Kyousuke ultimately reveals that he actually harbors romantic feelings for his older sister, and added that he has been harboring it for years to the point where he even proposes to her - which Kirino tearfully accepts and they decide to become couple until graduation day. After their graduation, they had a pseudo-marriage in a church arrange by Kyousuke, and ended their relationship as a couple and returned to being normal siblings. Kyousuke then used his '1 Time Wish' (a bet made by the Kousaka Siblings, during Kyousuke's mock exam, that Kyousuke won) to break their promise of being a couple until graduation, pulling each other back to being lovers again. So their relationship continues as lovers, but not as open as before. However, this was not openly shown in the anime and at most only implied, i.e. the one time wish was spent on letting Kirino allow Kyousuke to lightly kiss her on the cheek. Ayase Aragaki The two share an instant crush to each other in their first encounter, often smiling together. This relationship quickly changed, however, due to Ayase's unshakable mindset and disposition towards otaku culture; i.e. her knowledge of Kirino's otaku side. The two do not have any notable relationship after Kyousuke sacrificed his good name to reconcile Kirino and Ayase. She often regards him as indecent, a siscon and a pervert due to his blatant "lie" for his incestuous love to Kirino, but ultimately finds him a dependable person when she needs help the most, albeit still keeping a distance between herself and him. Kyousuke appreciates Ayase's kindness over her peers, something that would draw him towards her if it weren't for the constant blockade put up by Kirino's indirect actions. Despite being deemed a siscon, a pervert and indecent by Ayase, Kyousuke deeply cares for her well being, going as far as choosing to aid her over his most important exam (one where he must attain a high grade if he is to regain access to the Kosaka residence). This selfless act of his, among many of his other sacrifices for her, confirms Ayase's personal love towards him which leads to her tearful confession to him, which Kyousuke rejects and said that he was in love with someone else. Ruri Gokou/Kuroneko After becoming an otaku himself, Kyousuke and Ruri bode well with each other, often easily connecting due to their more "mature" or "realistic" outlook on problematic situations. Ruri later develops a close junior/senior friendship status both in and outside of school/club activities when she decided to go to school after staying at home for some time. Sharing the younger sibling status in their respective families, the two can relate with each other very well. During their unintended meeting in Comiket, Ruri often tries to close in towards Kyousuke, hinting her feelings to him (or that she is trying to anger Kirino). Nevertheless, both of them remain good friends until she shocks Kyousuke with her confession and, after gaining permission from Kirino, starts dating him. Their status as lovers quickly ends abruptly after the summer holiday ends, though they still hint signs of attraction towards each other. Their relationship, however, is hinted by Ruri as a saving knot to the Kousaka siblings' troubled relationship at that moment. Their feelings towards each other nonetheless remain attached towards each other in a friendly manner. Their relationship was put on hiatus when Kyousuke asks Ruri to give him time to choose whether he wants to continue in going out with her. Eventually, Kyousuke chooses to follow his heart and officially rejects Ruri, much to the latter's distraught; Ruri screamed and cursed upon being told by Kyousuke. Nonetheless they still see each other as friends and she is one of the few people who know of and support his relationship with his sister. Manami Tamura Kyousuke and Manami are childhood friends, caring for each other's well being over each of their own. She has an undeniable grandmotherly figure to Kyousuke, supporting him in every decision he makes if she deems it right (which is often so). Manami calls Kyousuke Kyou-chan, which is a shortened version of his real name. Despite her obvious signs of feelings towards Kyousuke, he either disregards it or is too dense to acknowledge it. It is heavily implied, however, that he cherishes what he currently has in their friendship and doesn't want to have it any other way. He often visits her place after school, and is always welcomed by the Tamura family. However, Kyousuke's relationship with Manami might have been strained after the former chooses Kirino instead of her, much to Manami's disgust. But still, Kyousuke doesn't bear any ill will towards Manami. Saori Makishima Despite Saori's often awkward and blatant split personality (which Kyousuke finds rather odd), the two are in a similar state of rationality when it comes to problematic situations. Often times Saori helps him in his struggles, which is appreciated by the other greatly. In the light novels, it is not clear if she had feelings for Kyousuke, but in the anime, it is implied that she too harbors slight romantic feelings toward Kyousuke and is evidenced by the fact that during the selection of who will take care of Kyousuke during his studying period for his mock exams, Kirino singled out Ayase as the only one she deems to have a zero percent chance of becoming Kyousuke's love interest. Yoshino Kousaka A caring and extremely adaptable mother, Yoshino is rejoiced that her son and daughter reconciled after their continual distance sometime during their childhood and is not above using Kyousuke's sister complex to motivate him to study. She often supports him in her own ways, remarking him as a "good brother". She serves as an equilibrium of peace in Kyousuke's dramatic and often troubled life, caring for both Kyousuke and Daisuke in their quarrels over Kirino's otaku hobby. However, in the anime, the part where Yoshino used the siblings' suspicious behavior towards each other in order for Kyousuke to excel on his mock exams was not shown. Daisuke Kousaka Both Kyousuke and Daisuke share a father-son likeness in their persistent and brave personality when it comes to protecting their loved ones. Despite Daisuke's more powerful physical capabilities (often sending Kirino flying with a simple punch), Kyousuke is capable of breaking through his samurai-esque unshakable mindset, something that he respects and is proud of in his son. Daisuke often hits Kirino if the latter remarks a point that clashes with his perspective, which slowly becomes a rarity as he sees Kyousuke as a man and dependable brother to Kirino instead of a delinquent boy. Despite his strict and hard-headed nature, Daisuke acknowledges and is confident of Kyousuke's capabilities. At first, Kyousuke believed that his father didn't care for him because his album only had pictures of Kirino, though it was later discovered that the reason was that Kirino was secretly stealing those pictures and making her own album of her "cool onii-chan". In the end, Kyousuke felt that he has betrayed his fathers trust when he was dating Kirino and apologized in his heart. Kouhei Akagi Kouhei is one Kyousuke's close friends in class, aside from Manami. Both seem to share the same situation of having otaku sisters, but nonetheless, have to support them in their decisions, going as far as buying a video game for them in a midnight release. Due to this, they usually get along with each other very well, and came to respect one another as well. Due to having a common problem, they usually talk about their younger sisters which can sometimes lead to a competition on who's the cutest, much to the disgust of their sisters. He and Kyousuke accept that after graduation, their overall friendship will be over because they be entering different universities and won't get to see each other as often. Sena Akagi Since their first encounter, their relationship with one another is more or less, on a "normal" degree as club mates. Though they're still able to cooperate well and see each other positively. When Sena reveals to the whole club her love for yaoi, Kyousuke still continues to interact normally with Sena but begins to improve as they progress. Like Ayase, Sena also sees Kyousuke as a sexual harasser and a pervert and, at the same time, Kyousuke is usually annoyed and in fact, enraged, every time Sena fantasizes him in having a sexual relationship with his fellow male club mates and her brother. Despite Sena learning that Kyousuke and Kirino were going out, she still chose to be friends with them and support them. Kanako Kurusu Although at first, she thought of him as a typical boy the first time they met, it wasn't until when he was posing as her manager that she started to like him. She considers him her first fan, and has made a point of reserving the first place for him should she ever get a fan club. Although she started to learn how to cook in an attempt to help thaw the relationship between her parents and herself, she brought her cooking to Kyousuke to test it out. Although it was bad to eat, he still finished it all, which impressed Kanako. She got jealous when she saw Kyousuke eating food made by other girls and got into an argument with Kuroneko over it. She eventually confesses to Kyousuke, though she ultimately gets rejected. Kyousuke sometimes calls Kanako a brat (mostly in the games.) Appearances in Other Media Aside from acting as the main character in the Oreimo light novels, Kyousuke also appears as the male protagonist in the spinoff manga Ore no Kouhai ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai, where Ruri acts as the main character. He also stars in a crossover story with the Toaru Majutsu no Index light novel series, appearing with his sister Kirino alongside Index protagonists Mikoto Misaka and Touma Kamijou. Kyousuke can also be seen in the eleventh episode of Boku Wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai walking with Kirino, Saori and Kuroneko. He also appears as a cameo in the eleventh episode of Eromanga-sensei, along with Kirino, Kuroneko and Saori, walking past Masamune Izumi. Category:Characters Category:Males Category:Kousakas Category:Games Research Club Members